Biomass-to-nitrogen technology to be installed at North Dakota biofuel plant

By Staff | May 21, 2013

Colorado-based Agrebon Inc. is developing a nitrogen fertilizer production plant adjacent to the Tharaldson Ethanol Inc. plant in Casselton, N.D. The fertilizer plant will generate biogas from ethanol stillage. The biogas will then be processed into urea, anhydrous ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate. The project is currently in the financing stage. An agreement with business development partner Progressive Nutrient Systems is already in place, while an agreement with the ethanol plant is nearing completion.

The technology developed by Agrebon utilizes well-known technology that is used to convert natural gas into nitrogen, but substitutes biogas from an aerobic digestion system for the fossil-based natural gas. Approximately 1 pound of nitrogen can be produced per bushel of corn converted into ethanol. Pilot testing, economic modeling of the process, and an engineering review were completed at the University of North Dakota’s Energy and Environmental Research Center.

1 Responses

I can not imagine this makes economic sense !!
Cheap shale gas in ND (1/2 of the price of NG) will be hard to beat. Bio-Syngas is MUCH more expensive make a economies of scale of NH3-Urea plants...
My suggestion is that Agrebon should put a pilot where the is limited resource of fossil fuels, and lost of biomass !
rgds george

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